The Virgin Suicides (1999)

Should not have read the book first
This movie and the book were not high on my list to see or read. I happened on the audiobook and ended up liking it. I figured I would see the movie as well. Overall; it's an ok movie. Sofia made some changes probably due to the theme but some things she either left out or shouldn't have changed.

The biggest thing missing was the complete collapse of the household. Both the family and the house fell apart. The family gave up on just about everything. You did not see the yard overgrowing; the roof falling apart; the great amount of trash in the house and the left-over rotten food on the floors. The fact the mother stopped cooking and cleaning which made the girls fend for themselves by eating out of cans and washing their own cloths in the tub. Gone are the fish flies which were not cleaned up during the time and added to dilapidation of the house.

Cecilia who was a shadow of her former self came across as simply a shy girl. In the book her empty shell appearance added to the stories of being a crazy and gave the gossipy neighbors a reason for why she killed herself.

Mary who survived her suicide for a month; didn't in the movie.

Mr and Mrs Lisbon who disappeared in the middle of the night; left in daylight.

One thing Eugenides did in the book was that he really didn't give a clear answer to why the girls committed suicide. In the movie, it was easy to blame mainly Mrs. Lisbon and to a degree Mr. Lisbon.

Overall it's not a bad movie but as with many movies; I found the book to be better.

The Virgin Suicides: Haunted by the unknowable.
"In the first few days after the funeral, our interest in the Lisbon girls only increased. Added to their loveliness was a new mysterious suffering, perfectly silent, visible in the blue puffiness beneath their eyes or the way they would sometimes stop in mid-stride,look down, and shake their heads as though disagreeing with life."

Based on Jeffrey Eugenides' stunning debut novel, [[ASIN:0446670251 The Virgin Suicides]], Sofia Coppola's 1999 film follows the haunting suicides of five sisters. The film takes place in Grosse Pointe, Michigan in the 1970s. Four teenage boys (now middle-aged men) look back on their neighbors, the five Lisbon sisters: 13-year-old Cecilia, 14-year-old Lux, 15-year-old Bonnie, 16-year-old Mary, and 17-year-old Therese. After first attempting suicide by cutting her wrists, Cecilia later succeeds at ending her life by jumping from a window during a party. This sensational incident both fascinates and confuses the local Grosse Pointe community. Lux Lisbon then begins a relationship with school heartthrob, Trip Fontaine. When Lux misses curfew following her homecoming dance, all four girls are punished by their parents. Lux's mother forces her to burn her rock albums with provocative lyrics. The Lisbons become reclusive and their lives appear to deteriorate. As the Lisbons become more isolated from the community, their neighbors become even more obsessed with the family. Soon Lux begins having anonymous sex on the roof, while the boys watch from across the street. The four sisters then kill themselves for no apparent reason. The Lisbons sell their house and, in an attempt to make sense of the suicides, their neighbors salvage through the family's personal effects and trash (finding Cecilia's diary, family photos and other personal items belonging to the girls), proving that one man's trash is another man's treasure or, in the case of this film--another man's fetish. The point of this intriguing film is that some things are just unknowable.

What makes this film so good is partly the novel on which it is based, and partly its gifted young director. Coppola's fine film debut stars Kirsten Dunst, James Woods, Danny DeVito, Kathleen Turner and Josh Hartnett. Much of the dialogue and narration in her film is faithful to Eugenides' novel. As a director, Coppola shows an understanding and sensitivity for the film's painful subject and the inner lives of the Lisbon sisters. The film's score features thirteen tracks by the French electronic band Air. Both the novel and the film are highly recommended.

G. Merritt

The Virgin Suicides: Haunted by the unknowable.
"In the first few days after the funeral, our interest in the Lisbon girls only increased. Added to their loveliness was a new mysterious suffering, perfectly silent, visible in the blue puffiness beneath their eyes or the way they would sometimes stop in mid-stride,look down, and shake their heads as though disagreeing with life."

Based on Jeffrey Eugenides' stunning debut novel, [[ASIN:0446670251 The Virgin Suicides]], Sofia Coppola's 1999 film follows the haunting suicides of five sisters. The film takes place in Grosse Pointe, Michigan in the 1970s. Four teenage boys (now middle-aged men) look back on their neighbors, the five Lisbon sisters: 13-year-old Cecilia, 14-year-old Lux, 15-year-old Bonnie, 16-year-old Mary, and 17-year-old Therese. After first attempting suicide by cutting her wrists, Cecilia later succeeds at ending her life by jumping from a window during a party. This sensational incident both fascinates and confuses the local Grosse Pointe community. Lux Lisbon then begins a relationship with school heartthrob, Trip Fontaine. When Lux misses curfew following her homecoming dance, all four girls are punished by their parents. Lux's mother forces her to burn her rock albums with provocative lyrics. The Lisbons become reclusive and their lives appear to deteriorate. As the Lisbons become more isolated from the community, their neighbors become even more obsessed with the family. Soon Lux begins having anonymous sex on the roof, while the boys watch from across the street. The four sisters then kill themselves for no apparent reason. The Lisbons sell their house and, in an attempt to make sense of the suicides, their neighbors salvage through the family's personal effects and trash (finding Cecilia's diary, family photos and other personal items belonging to the girls), proving that one man's trash is another man's treasure or, in the case of this film--another man's fetish. The point of this intriguing film is that some things are just unknowable.

What makes this film so good is partly the novel on which it is based, and partly its gifted young director. Coppola's fine film debut stars Kirsten Dunst, James Woods, Danny DeVito, Kathleen Turner and Josh Hartnett. Much of the dialogue and narration in her film is faithful to Eugenides' novel. As a director, Coppola shows an understanding and sensitivity for the film's painful subject and the inner lives of the Lisbon sisters. The film's score features thirteen tracks by the French electronic band Air. Both the novel and the film are highly recommended.

G. Merritt